How to Make an Award-Winning Movie

How to Make an Award-Winning Movie

ARTICLE DATE: 12.28.04
By Bill Dyszel

Everyone knows that you can't make a movie in just 48 hours. Everyone also knows that you can't make a movie completely alone on an ordinary Windows laptop. Everyone is wrong.

To prove that point, I entered the 48 Hour Film Project's New York competition, a breakneck contest in which caffeine-crazed filmmakers are challenged to dash off a finished movie in just two days. To stretch the point, I decided to go it alone, using no crew or cast—other than myself. I'd be writer, actor, editor, photographer, everything! I also limited myself to consumer-level gear, which I defined as a store-bought Windows laptop, no cameras costing over $1,500, and no software costing over $600. To top that, I decided to make my movie a musical. Everybody thought I was crazy.

On a Friday evening at 7 P.M., I joined 22 filmmaking teams; we drew lots to determine the genre of each of our films. I drew science fiction. Every film had to include three compulsory elements: a character (M. Montclair, housekeeper), a prop (a checkbook), and a specific line of dialogue ("I can't take much more of this").

Not to spoil the ending, but I was pretty pleased. My film took the Audience Award and two judged awards. It's called Area Two Slash Two, and you can view it. Only six of the 22 competing films won any award at all. Nobody else worked solo.

Can you complete a movie from scratch in the next 48 hours? I think you can! Read on to learn how I did it."

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